Sports Writers Are Using The Wrong Grammar When Discussing The Tide
- Thread starter Alasippi
- Start date
It was a joke. Calm down.
I've been called grammar police by numerous posters before.
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Crimson Tide is one football team. If you refer to the unit as they, do you say "They has won 16 titles." or "They have won."??? They (the Crimson Tide) have won 16 titles.
This is the simplistic way I was taught. Although, as many have already stated, neither use is technically incorrect.
This reminds me of the horrid use of the word "I' by most people . . . "Him and I went," "That's a picture of my wife and I." Drives me crazy to hear people say things like this.
Regardless, the most correct thing to say Monday night will be Roll Tide Roll!
I think you are mixing examples. This year's Crimson Tide is one team, a singular unit, a collective. It's an "it", not a "they" in pronoun terms.
Your example refers to multiple championships, which means multiple teams. Your example sentence sounds correct to me in this case: "They have won 16 national titles." (I'm also an optimist.) I can actually see this one either way. In this case both "The Crimson Tide has won 16 national titles" and "The Crimson Tide have won 16 national titles" sound OK. Therefore I officially have no idea which is correct here.
But if Bama wins this Monday night, then when referring to this year's team I would definitely say, "The Crimson Tide has won the national championship."
Totally agree! Roll Tide, trenda!!!
Another way to think about the collective noun thing, as I recall from long ago, is to think about (as many have mentioned) how you are using the term. What I mean is if your intention is to refer to the team as a single entity (and therefore would use a singular pronoun or term to replace the proper noun), then you would use the appropriate verb that goes with that singular pronoun. For example, the team ("it") has won the national title.
However, if you are referring to the team as individual parts (for example, if you would replace Crimson Tide with "the boys" or "the players" or something similar), then you'd use the appropriate verb that goes with that plural pronoun. For example, the players ("they") have won the national title.
I think the above distinction is the best way for me to think about this. Like many have said, there are situations where one usage can be correct and other situations where the other usage can be correct.
However, if you are referring to the team as individual parts (for example, if you would replace Crimson Tide with "the boys" or "the players" or something similar), then you'd use the appropriate verb that goes with that plural pronoun. For example, the players ("they") have won the national title.
I think the above distinction is the best way for me to think about this. Like many have said, there are situations where one usage can be correct and other situations where the other usage can be correct.
JBama_in_PCOLA
TideFans Legend
Finally someone gets it. The Tide is and has always been singular. I hate when they say Tide are, that is INCORRECT. It's the Tide IS. You don't go the beach and say that the tide are rolling in. It's like the Brits talking about one company, for example Disney. They'll say Disney are making a movie. It's one thing, not several. You do have several people within that company, but it's still one company. So, "Tide have and Tide are" is technically and wholly incorrect. It's just that simple.
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Look guys, if we want to win the Natty all of you are going to have to get that chip off your shoulders,because at the end of the day singular or plural doesn't mean squat.
I'm with you, Trenda. I was an English major, and I'm 75 years old. Those two combined make me a stick-in-the-mud for correct grammar as it was taught to me. I hear that "Jim and me were..." or "She had Jim and I for dinner..." all the time, and it rankles! So for this discussion, the Crimson Tide HAS done this or that. The players HAVE done...
Just a personal preference by a charter member of the Old Farts Club.
Yes, it was sarcasm. Can't blue font on my phone.
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Yes you can.
Type (color=blue)whatever you want to say(/color)
Instead of () use []
I just typed this in tapatalk.
I prefer the singular when referring to "The Tide," but it really doesn't bother me either way. I am no a grammar Nazi because I am certainly not perfect when writing, but the mistakes that get under my skin are then when it should be than and their rather than there. We all make typos so no need to jump on anyone for it, those two just grate on my patience when repeated many times.
JBama_in_PCOLA
TideFans Legend
Po-tay-to/Po-tah-to. The accepted form of "grammar" used in texting irks me a whole lot more.
Today's journalists have bigger problems, such as not fact checking what they write.
Today's journalists have bigger problems, such as not fact checking what they write.
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